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I wanted to type up this recipe that we have been using for the past 5 years. It comes from “The Ultimate Cooking Course and Kitchen Encyclopedia” edited by Carole Clements. We don’t follow the recipe exactly, which is why I called this post, “Jambalaya, sort of”.

Jambalaya
Serves 6

2 tablespoons corn oil
4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves, cut into chunks
1 pound spicy cooked sausage, sliced
6 ounces smoked ham, cubed
1 large onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 green bell peppers, seeded and chopped
3 garlic gloves, minced
1 cup canned crushed tomatoes
2 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 sprig of fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
2 sprigs of flat-leaf (Italian) parsley
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 cups rice
salt and pepper
4 scallions, finely chopped

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the chicken chunks and sausage slices and cook until well browned, about 5 minutes. Stirl in the ham cubes and cook 5 minutes longer.

2. Add the onion, celery , bell peppers, garlic, tomatoes, stock, cayenne, thyme, parsley, and bay leaf to the frying pan. Bring to a boil, stirring well.

3. Stir in the rice, and add salt and pepper to taste. When the liquid returns to a boil, reduce the heat and cover the pan tightly. Simmer 10 minutes.

4. Remove the pan from the heat and without removing the lid, set aside for 20 minutes, to let the rice finish cooking.

5. Discard the bay leaf. Scatter the chopped scallions on top of the jambalaya just before serving.

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What we do differently:

* We use olive oil, not corn oil.
* We used to use Turkey Andouille Sausage as the only meat– no chicken or ham. But I recently looked at the package and saw the amount of salt in that Sausage… I think it would be good with only chicken.
* We use a whole container of tomatoes (usually 20+ ounces), and lots more garlic.
* If you use brown rice, it will take much much longer to cook. Simmer for maybe 20-30 minutes. Which means you need to use more broth– I use closer to 4 cups, and add more if needed.
* I usually don’t have scallions, so we skip that part.

It’s pretty yummy. If you try it, let me know what you think!

Well, since it’s Friday, and I posted a picture of the World’s Best Chocolate Birthday Cake, I might as well post the recipe. I asked for suggestions on facebook, and I ended up trying the one my friend Becky suggested: HERSHEY’S “PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE” Chocolate Cake. I am sure glad I tried it!

Ingredients:
* 2 cups sugar
* 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 3/4 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa
* 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 eggs
* 1 cup milk
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1 cup boiling water
* “PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE” CHOCOLATE FROSTING(recipe follows)
Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with “PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE” CHOCOLATE FROSTING. 10 to 12 servings.

“PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE” CHOCOLATE FROSTING

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2/3 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

– I didn’t change a thing, except I had an unopened can of Ghirardelli cocoa and I used that instead of Hershey’s. I hope Hershey doesn’t mind.

I really wish there were a birthday coming up for me to make this again… Maybe I’ll just make it this weekend just because. It could cheer me up.

My memories of Valentine’s Day as a kid involve two things: one, the paper decorations we always hung up in the windows (and can’t find in the stores anymore), and two, my mom’s Rolled Sour Cream Sugar Cookies, cut out in the shape of a heart.

I haven’t made cut out cookies by myself EVER. I don’t have a lot of room in my house. Cats tend to jump up on things. I didn’t have a rolling pin or a place to roll the dough. So, I didn’t do it. But I always wanted to try to recreate my mom’s cookies.

Over ten years ago, my sister gave me a computer file with recipes, including the Rolled Sour Cream Sugar Cookies. I had to convert it to a rich text file and clean it up, because the programs have changed since then. But I didn’t have the supplies to make them. Then, Last year, my sister gave me two rolling pins (my mom’s old rolling pin with peeling paint on the handles, and a heavy marble one), the mat she used for rolling out dough, and the old cookie cutters we used.

Since Valentine’s Day is coming up, and since we were about to get hit with our second blizzard in less than a week, I decided to finally make them. I told Lilia, I have never done this before, but it is always good to TRY NEW THINGS. She helped out immensely.

These are the cookie cutters we used:

They were quite tough to use– hard to pull back up. I don’t think it was just because I’m not an expert. I think I will get some plain metal cookie cutters in various shapes– I think that would be much easier.

Okay, on to the recipe. I actually googled to see if anyone else had the recipe out there, since I was not 100% sure I had it right (the files had added symbols between all the words and numbers!). I found a scan of the recipe card on a site called Noble Recipes, which has a note that it was from St. Lawrence Dairy– which was (or maybe is?) a dairy in Berks County, Penna., which makes sense. Here’s the recipe:

Rolled Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

2 cups sugar
2/3 cup butter
2 large or 3 small eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sour cream

5 cups sifted flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Gradually add sugar to butter, creaming thoroughly; add eggs and beat until fluffy.
Add vanilla and sour cream.
Sift dry ingredients together and add, mixing to a smooth soft dough.
Chill thoroughly, then roll out 1/3″ thick on floured board, and cut in large 3″ to 4″ cookies.
Place on greased baking sheet and sprinkle with sugar. Bake in moderate hot oven (375 to 400 degrees) until lightly browned. Makes about 3 dozen fat, soft cookies. If you want crisp cookies, roll the dough very thin.

Instead of sprinkling with sugar, I decided to ice them. I used this recipe:
Sugar Cookie Frosting
Ingredients for 4 dozen:
• 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 5 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• food coloring
but I halved it:
Ingredients for 2 dozen:
• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 2 tablespoons and 1-1/2 teaspoons milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• food coloring
•
Directions
1. In a large bowl, cream together the confectioners’ sugar and shortening until smooth. Gradually mix in the milk and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth and stiff, about 5 minutes. Color with food coloring if desired.

I googled natural food colors, and found a suggestion to use Pomegranate Juice to color the icing pink.
Here is how they turned out. My disclaimer: I am not a food photographer. I’ve seen luscious photos of my friends’ meals and treats, but I cannot do it. I think part of it is that the cookies themselves are sloppy. The cookie cutters were VERY difficult. And I assigned the icing to Lilia and Joe. And, we don’t have a lot of room to store cookies and cool them– so the cookies stuck together once the icing was on. They still tasted pretty good!

I got this recipe from the now-defunct Wondertime Magazine– the only parenting magazine I could handle receiving every month. They replaced my subscription with Family Fun Magazine, which is not good for my self-esteem.

White bean, chicken, and chili soup
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 onions, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, finely chipped
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 large pinch cayenne (optional)
1 large pinch allspice
2 (4-ounce) cans chopped green chilies
2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts, diced (cook them to your liking before you dice them, if you’d rather)
4 cups chicken broth (a 32-ounce box)
3 (15 ounce) cans white beans (great northern or navy), 2 drained, 1 with liquid
1 (16 ounce) bag frozen corn kernels
8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, grated
Salt to taste

Heat oil in a soup pot over medium-high heat and saute onions until translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, spices, and chilies, and saute for another minute. Add diced chicken and broth, and simmer until the chicken is opaque (if you used raw chicken), about 15 minutes.
Add beans, corn, and half the cheese, and simmer another 15 minutes.
Taste for salt, and serve with remaining cheese to sprinkle on top.

—-
It turns out more like a Chili than a Soup. I don’t add the cheese during cooking– we just add it to our bowls.

Had enough turkey? If not,  here’s a recipe they were handing out at Trader Joe’s last year:
Thanksgiving in a Skillet
1 pkg Ground Turkey
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 stick butter
1 pkg diced yams
1 pkg Stuffing mix
3 1/2 cups water

Melt butter in skillet with cover. Add onions and ground turkey. Cook until the onions are soft and turkey is cooked through. Add diced yams, water and stuffing seasoning pack to skillet. Cover and bring to a boil. Simmer until yams are cooked through (about 15-20 minutes). Add stuffing. Turn off the heat. Leave skillet covered for 3-4 minutes. Uncover, stir, serve with Cranberry Sauce on the side (optional).

–

The pre-cut yams were four or 5 dollars, and it was less than 2 dollars for a bag of regular sweet potatoes, so I cut them myself. The recipe card lists this website: www.tjrecipes.com– which is not a Trader Joe’s website. I found it listed here: http://tjrecipes.com/?p=969 , butt it is slightly different. If I make this again soon, I will have to make potato filling and Cope’s Dried Corn as sides… because can you believe this– I had neither for Thanksgiving!